Sorting device



Nov. 18-, 1924- 1,515,659 G. w. cox, JR

SORTING DEVI CE Filed Feb. 5 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 g n'uem'lio'v 615 76Z. 50/! 4/7.

Nov. 18, 1924- 7 1,515,659

G. W. COX. JR

SORTING DEVICE Filed Feb 5 1921 4 SheetsSheet 5 Snow Wei Gegrye Z0. U01J1.

albozneg Nov. 18 1924- G. W. COX, JR

SORTING DEVICE 1 921 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 660736 Z1). 00x Jr.

Filed F 'eb 5 Gum-M Patented Nov. 18, 1924.

. UTE

ATES

3,515,659 PATENT oFFicE,

ononen w. cox, Ja, or VJASHINGTON, 'nrsrarcr or COLUMBIA, AssreNonro NA-'IIONAL ASSORTING COMPANY, or VTASHINGTON, nrsrnic-r or COLUMBIA, A con-PORATION or DELAWARE.

SORTING- DEVICE.

Application filed February 3, 1921. Serial No. 442,068.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that GEORGE W. Cox, Jr., a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, has inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Sorting Devices, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Thisinvention pertains to means for sorting articles such as checks,sales slips, voucl1- ers, coupons, car mileage slips, money orders,factory job cards, paper money, bonds, letters, bank deposit slips, andanalogous articles, and it has for its objects, among others, to providea simple and efficient device for this purpose by means of which thechecks, vouchers, slips, cards or other articles, may be rapidly andaccurately sorted by their serial numbers, letters, symbols or otherindicia or designating characters. 1

It is a well known factthat in many offices, for instance, where largenumbers of checks, sales slips, coupons, certificates, or other papersdesignated by serial number, or alphabetically, have to be sorted andarranged serially, or alphabetically, much time and labor are requiredin this sorting. For instance, in many offices of the United StatesGovernment, in offices of- State governments, in many of the largedepartment stores, and in many large ofiices and factories,thousandsupon thousands and hundreds of thousands of such papers have ofnecessity to be sorted and arranged alphabetically or in accordance withtheir serial numbers, or into classes. In department stores and otherplaces the sales slips and papers of like character are'not onlydesignated by a serial number or other indicating marks, but in manyinstances are book 2 sorted by themselves, and so on.

My present invention has for its objects, among others, broadly, toprovide a novel form .of device by which these various sortings maybequickly and accurately accomplished, all by one and the same device, and

one and the same operator, the construction being such as not to requireskilled labor in its manipulation.

The present invention has for a further object to provide a device ofthis general character which shall be simple in its nature, composed offew parts, and those readily as{ sembled and not liable to derangementor injury and readily replaced should occasion requlre.

The device forming the subject-matterof this application will beparticularly well adapted for use in banks,.railroad oflices, departmentstores, in the oiiices ofauditors, and in fact anywhere and everywherethat there is occasion to sortand classify papers of this generalcharacter.

The present invention contemplates various forms of devicesrforaccomplishing the desired end, which may be operated in various ways,dependent upon the conditions under which it is to be used, and it istobe understood that the device may be equipped for operation on a largeor small scale toacconnnodate the various requirements and thenecessities of the ofiice in which it is to be used. in the presentinstance I havershownadevice designed for use for accomplishing theabove ends, the same principle, and the mechanism genericallyconsidered, may be employed for carrying forward the invention, as willbe made clear as the description proceeds. I

My present device combines advantages of being rapid, accurate, laborsaving, and also economical in the space required.

In some instances it may be desirable to sort all of the vouchers,cards, certificates, sales slips, or other papers orarticles, bythemselves, from the others, without arranging such slips or the likeaccording to serial number, or it may be desired to sort the papers intogroups by letters or combination of letters. This device is equally welladapted for all such purposes.

Other objects'and advantages of the invention, will hereinafter appear,and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

The generic principles: of the inventio are capable of embodiment in avariety of forms some only of which are herein-illustrated, those hereinshown being what I' at It is also to be understood that while thepresent time consider preferable. It will be evident, however, thatwhile the forms herein disclosed and now to be described are what I atthe present time consider preferable and have found efficient frompractice, the same are subject to changes, variations, and modificationsin detail, proportion of parts, relative arrangement, etc., and Itherefore do not wish to be restricted in the appended claims to theparerence marked thereon, form a part of this specification, and inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan view of a simplified form of deviceconstructed in accordance with my present invention, with the tray orcontainer shown removed in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a side elevation with the tray or container in place.

Figure '3 is a top plan view of the tray or container.

Figure 4 is a side elevation with portions broken away and parts insection, showing a modified form of construction.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of still an other form of the device.

Figure 6 is a view looking at the opposite side of Figure 5, with partsin section.

Figure? is a top plan of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective detail with portions broken away,showing one manner of detachably supporting the tray or container inoperative position.

Figure 9 is an enlarged perspective detail with portions broken awaylooking at the opposite end of the tray or container.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews.

Referring to the drawings, and first calling particular attentiontoFigures l, 2 and 3, 1 designates a frame or support of any suitablematerial comprising end uprights 2 and 3, side members 4, and endmembers 5. Preferably, though not necessarily, the side members 4 aresomewhat inclined from the horizontal, as seen in Figure 2, forconvenience in placing the checks or other papers or articles to bearranged and sorted. The size and capacity of the device is unlimited;to increase the capacity it being necessary only to increase the size ofthe device and the numbers of the compartments now to be described.

The frame or support thus constructed is provided with a multiplicity oftransverse members which are adapted to serve several importantfunctions. As all of these members are substantially alike a detaileddescription of one will suffice for all. They may be constructed andfixed in position in numerous ways, that shownherein being but one ofthe many and one which in practice I have found very satisfactory. (5designates one of the members which is formed preferably of metal havingvertical wall or portion [7 fittedin kerfs in the side members at asseen in Figure 2, being there held by frictional engagement of memberswith walls of the kerfs or in any other convenient way. Each member 6has a downwardly and rearwardly inclined portion 9, see Figure 2, thelower end of which extendsbeneath the bot tom edge of, the side membersat for a purpose which will soon be made clear, and this free edge ispreferably slightly turned rear ward as seen at 10 for apurpose whichwill be explained later on. The angle or junction 1 of the verticalmember 7 and the inclined portion 9 is preferably 'i 'ounded, as seen inFigure 2, so as to avoid sharp corners and prevent injuryto the hands ofthe operator and also to provide increased surface upon which may beapplied paint or numbers or other indicia to aid the eye of the-operatorin dropping the checks or other papers into the device. As seen inFigure 2 the free end of the inclined member 9 of each member (3 extendsto or beyond the vertical line of the next. adjacent vertical portion 7for a purpose which will be set forth later.

In order to receive the checks or other papers or articles as they areplaced in the to be supported beneath the members ,6,

seen in F iguie 2. This tray or container 12 is bodily removable inorder that when the one tray has been filled with papers it can bereadily removed with its contained papers and an empty tray or containersubstituted therefor. This tray or container comprises a baseboard 13provided with a multiplicity of vertical members is which may be fixedto the base 13 in any suitable Way, in the present instance the membersH being shown as provided with lateral flanges 15 secured to the base 13by screwsor the like 16. If the support or frame be inclined as seen inFigure 2 the base 1 3 of the container or tray should by preference bedisposed in a plane parallel with the sideinenibers 4 of the frame orsupport. This tray 01' container may be thus supported in any suitablemanner, as by suitable blocks or strip or any suitable support 17 at therear end of the device, as seen in Figure 2.

These 'ertica-l members 14, the number of which will vary according tothe number of the members 6 in the frame or support 1,

extend to apoint above and in frontofthc you iii

lower edges of theinclined portions 9, and in avertical plane in frontof the vertical members 7 of the member 6, or in other words, the rearend of each inclined member 9 extends rearward beyond and to a pointbelow the upper edge of its cooperating or adjacent member 14. Theopposite ends of the compartments 18 thus formed are preferably open tofacilitate removal of the checks or cards therefrom although it is evident that one end may be closed or if required both ends may be closedwith one or more of the closures movably mounted so as to present readyaccess to the interior of the compartment.

The use of the device is as follows: The members 6, particularly for abeginner in the use of the device, are preferably provided each withsome designation such as l, 2, 8,4, etc., a, Z), 0, etc., or painteddifferent colors, or marked in any other way, so as to readilydistinguish one from another, and where the device is to be. used forshort papers, such as bond coupons, etc, each space 19 between twoadjacent members 6 may serve for two or more difierent entrances to eachcompartment 18. For instance, the first space 19 may serve to receive onthe right papers where the dominating); digit is 1, and on the left thecipher or nought; the next space 19 in order may be used to receive.papers where doiuiiuitingr digitsare 2 and 3 and so on. I y

.Now, assuming this tobe the case and the tray or container in positionas seen in ure 2, the operator takes the coupons, checks, cards, orother papers, in his hand and drops them one at a time into theappropriate spaces 19. F or instance, if the first paper bears a digit 3at the right hand side and sup-posing the device to be of the characterjust described wherein each space serves for two or more digits, theoperator drops this card or other paper into the appropriate space 19designed to receive papers with such right hand digits, and then if thenext paper has the right hand digit 8 it is dropped into the space 19designed. to receive such papers, and so on until all the paper havebeen dropped into the appropriate spaces 19. papers are gathered out ofthe compart ments, the tray or container being. removed or not as may bepreferred and the piles of papers in the various compartments arecollected in their proper numerical order. These papers are then passedthrough the device again taking the next digit on the left as thedominating digit, and the same mode of procedure gone through with. Thepapers are again removed from their com partments, being collected intheir numerical order, and then they go through the same steps untilthey have. been sorted according to the last digit on the left. However,if

After this has been: done the;

preferred the papers maybe sorted by 'tale ing the digits from left toright instead of from right toleft' After the papers have passed throughthese var ous steps they are collected from their various compartmentsin the order of the compartments, when they will be found to be inproper numerical order throughout. lVhen, however, during the process ofsorting, say the operator is throwing or dropping papers by the seconddigit from the right, and the next paper in order has but one digit (theright hand digit havin alread been sorted this oaoer is e; v r droppedinto one of the compartments 19 wh ch may have a designation, forinstance X, see" Figure 1. Having gone through the second sort that ishavin sorted all 1 a b papers by the second digit from the right, uponthe next sort, that is accord ng to the third digit from the right, ifthe operator comes to a paper whichhas but two digits been sortedaccording to the last digitto the left it is not necessary to doanything furtl'ier except to gather upor collectthe papers from thevarious compartn'ients, placing: tl'iemin the order of the compartmerits and putting them behind those which have been placed in thecompartment 18 corresponding to the space X as above described, when allpapers throughout will be found to be arranged in numerical order. Insorting the papers the operator takes a bunch in his hand holding themsubstantiall vertically and then slides them off one at atime dropping:each paper into its appropriate space. the papers be dropped carefullysothat the bottom edge thereof will be substantially parallel with theforward edge of the inclined member 6 this is not necessary becauseshould the papers fall otherwise, for instance, so as to strike theinclined member at one corner of the paper, this impact of the cornerwill cause the paper to straighten itself out so as to assume suchparallel relation before it passes over the rear edge of.

the inclined -meinher. This straightening process is further completedby similar con tact of the paper with the next rearward wall 14 ofthecompartment 18 into which said paper falls. the papers being held in amore or less vertical position with the numbers thereon facing; theoperator, when they fall upon the incl ned member '9 and continue theirpassage therefrom into their respective mm While it is preferable'tliatIt will readilybe seen that I partments the papers will fall with thenumher side down, which is preferable, but this order may be reversed.

Especial importance is attached to the ver- Licle member 7 and itslocation relative to the inclined member 9, for its presence ensures thestraightening of the paper before it continues on its journey. We-rethis member absent unless a paper were started straight it wouldcontinue. toward the tray and be deposited in the tray in a crisscrossmanner. In other words particular hardlin'g of the papers is notnecessary to ensure their proper deposit in the receptacles. Forinstance, in dropping a paper inmy device, while ordinarily it will bedropped substantially vertical so that its lower edge first strikes uponthe inclined member 9 and the lower edge of the paper coming in contactwith the said inclined member the paper will slide down the latter andduring its course will fall facedownward upon such inclined member andslide off the same, straight, so as to tail flat-wise into thereceptacle 18, should the paper or check be thrown carelessly orpromiscuously into the device so that its lower edge strikes thevertical member 7 this will serve to throw the check downward flat wiseand straight upon the inclined member 9' before the paper passes overthe terminal 10 thereof and thus cause it to be deposited in thereceptacle correctly, the same as if it had been inserted carefully, aspreviously described. It will thus be seen that proper deposit of thepapers or checks in thereceptacles l8 is assured irrespective of whetherthey are dropped carefully and in a prescribed manner, thus effecting agreat saving of time and compensating the carelessness of an experiencedoperator or the lack of skill of an inexperienced operator.

By extending the rear edge of the inclined member 9 below the lower faceof the side bars a and below and to the rearward of the upper edge ofthe partition or member .14 I makesure that the paper deposited in anyone space 19 goes into its appropriate compartment. Furthermore, thisalso facilitates the insertion and removal of the tray or container,bringing each member 1 thereof into proper position relative to themember (i.

In order to flip the paper rearward as itleaves the inclined member 9the curved or bent terminal 10 is provided in the form shown in Figure2, which end serves to en sure that the paper as it leaves the inclinedmember shall assume practically a hori zontal position which position itmaintains until it reaches the bottom of its compartmerit.

In order to accomplish this same purpose when larger or heavier papersare being sorted I provide in lieu of the bent or curved terminal of theinclined membera roller 20, there being such rollers disposed at a pointbelow the terminal of the inclined member 9 as seen in Figure 4, thisroller be ing arranged in such position as to be engaged by the loweredge of the paper as it falls from the inclined member and as thisroller is caused to revolve in the. direction of the arrow seen inFigure 4 the paper will be flipped to the rear so as to fall inhorizontal position.

Motion may be imparted to these rollers in any suitable well known way.in Figure at I have shown by way of example only a shaft 21, mounted insuitable bearings 22, and provided with a plurality of beveled gearseach of which meshes with a beveled gear 2% ontlie shaft 25 of a roller,so that the rollers are moved in unison. Motion maybe imparted to thissha ftin any well known way. in the present instance I have shown,merely by way of example, a beveled gear 26 on said shaft meshing with abeveled gear 27 on a shaft 28 mounted in suitable bearings 29 andderiving its motion from any suitable source of power, not shown. Theoperation is substantially the same as in the form previously describeditb'eing'understood that the rollers take the place of the bent orinclined terminals 10 of the inclined members 9.

It is evident, however, that both the bent or curved terminals 10 andthe rollers 20 may be omitted without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of its advantages because in practice thepapers generally fall flat into their compartments.

if it be necessary in some cases to employ means to move the paperstoward the rear by positive means I may employ rollers in pairs betweeneach pair of which the paper will be caused to pass and thus the rollerswould serve to pull the paper along and aid it in its movement, butunder ordinary conditions such provision will not be found necessary.

In practice an operator soon becomes so ellicientas not to have todepend upon the designations on the various members 6, but immipulationof the papers becomes similar to that of a typewriter operator employingthe touch system.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide as small an area asaossible at the point where the dropping of the papers is made. Theabove described device fully meets this requirement in small articles.here large articlesare to be sorted and deposited in receptacles it isnecessary either to increase the size of the area at the point where thepapers are dropped, or if maintaining a small area at this point, toconvey the articles to a distant point where they can be properlyaccumulated in quantity. Such a device is shown in Figures 5 to 9,inclusive. In this latter form the same essential elements are employed,the tray or container 30 having compartments to serve with each of thesorting spaces being designed to be removed when desired and when inposition held in any suitable way. For instance, from Figures 6, 8 and 9it will be seen that at its lower end, the tray being held in inclinedposition, it is held by means of a lug or the like 31 engaged in arecess or the like 32 in the upright member 33 of the device while itsupper end is shown as supported by means of a hook or the like 34carried by the upper end of the tray or container and engaged over a pinor the like 35 held in the end wall 36 of the device. Disengagement ofthis hook from its pin permits of the movement of the tray orcontainer-s0 as to disengage the hook 31 from the recess 32 so that thetray when full can be removed from its place and an empty one quickl andeasily placed in proper position.

In t is form the uprights 37 are similar in purpose to the members 6 inthe form seen in Figures 2 and 4, being fixed to the member 38 of thedevice in any suitable manner. Instead, however, of falling directlyinto the compartments from these members 37 over which they are fed thepapers are dropped to endless belts 39, one for each space and member37, the said belts adapted to move in the direction of the arrows seenin Figure 6 and by means of which belts the papers are carried to theirappropriate compartments of the tray or container. In the device shownas each succeeding belt has to carry its papers a corresponding furtherdistance the belts are gradually increased in length from the front tothe rear of the device, as will be evident upon reference to Figure 6.

Motion may be imparted to these belts in any well known way. In Figures5, 6 and 7 I have illustrated, by way of example only, one efficientform of mechanism for this purpose, wherein 40 is a shaft mounted in asuitable bearing 41, the said shaft carrying a pulley 42, designed toreceive power by belt or otherwise from a motor or any other suitablesource of power, and on the shaft 40 is a worm wheel 43 which in turnmeshes with a worm 44 on a longitudinal shaft 45 mounted in suitablebearings 46 and carrying a beveled pinion 47 meshing with a beveledpinion 48 on an upright shaft 49 mounted in suitable bearings 50, seeFigure 5, and this shaft 49 carries at its upper end a beveled pinion 51meshing with a beveled pinion 52 on a shaft 53 mounted in suitablebearings 54, and the shaft 53 carries a multiplicity of worms 55 eachmeshing with a worm wheel 56 on a shaft 57 of one of the rollers 58 ofeach belt; 59, see Figure 6, being the other roller over which the beltpasses. By these all of the rollers and their belts will be moved inunison and the belts will serve to take the papers from their point ofentry anddeliver them into their proper compartments or receptacles inthe tray or container. I t is evident that in lieu of the form ofcontainer herein shown and previously described I may employ other formsof receptacles for the papers. For instance, they may be detachablymounted in position to receive the envelopes or'other papers, it beingunderstood that letters or mail matter can be assorted according tolocation and thus delivered into their appropriate mail pouches.

The papers are delivered to the device and dropped into the appropriatespaces by the operator in exactly the same way as are the papers in theform shown in Figures 1 to 4. It is also evident that the device is notof necessity restricted to the sorting of papers. Any articles which itis desired to assert from a promiscuous pile can be assorted intodesired classes.

From the foregoing it will be evident that while I have devised simpleand efficient means for accomplishing the end in view the deviceshereinbefore disclosed are subject to changes, variations, andmodifications in detail, proportionate parts, etc., without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. Itherefore do not intend tore'strict myself to the exact constructionsherein disclosed but reserve the right to make such changes, variationsand modifications as come properly within the scope of the protectionprayed.

What is claimed as new is:

l. A device for sorting papers or the like, comprising series ofsubstantially vertical open topped pockets arranged in horizontalalignment, an inclined guide plate overlying each pocket and providedwith a terminal leading into the next adjacent pocket, a deflector wallpositioned adjacent and at an angle to the guiding surface of saidplate, and means carried by said plate for causing the papers to assumea horizontal position when leaving the latter.

2. A sorting device for papers or the like comprising supporting frame,a plurality of opeirtop receptacles extending laterally below the frameand arranged in a row positioned longitudinally thereof, and means forguiding papers into said receptacles, comprising a paper guiding" platewhich extends over one receptacle and leads into the top of the adjacentreceptacle and a paper deflecting element which is located above thelower end of said plate, substantially as and for the purposes setforth. I

3. A sorting device for papers or the like comprising a supportingframe, a plurality of open'top receptacles extending transverselyhelov.- the frame and arranged in a row extending "longitudinallythereof, and a paper deflecting and guiding member fixed To the tr-nineabove each receptacle, said member comprising an inclined guide plateextending over one receptacle and leading into the adjacent receptacle,and a substantially vertically disposed deflecting element positionedabove the lower end of said plate,

substantially-as and for the purposes set forth.

AL. A sorting device for papers or the like comprising a'sorting frame,a plurality of open-top receptacles extending transverse- 1y below theframe and arranged in a row extending longitudinally thereof, and apaper deflecting and guiding member fixed to tl'ieframe above eachreceptacle, said member comprising an inclined guide plate extendingover one receptacle and leading intothe adjacent receptacle, adeflecting elementpositioned above the lower end of said plate, andmeans carried by said guide plate to said receptacle, said meanscomprisin for causing the papers to assume a sub- 25 stantiallyhorizontal position before falling into said receptacle, substantiallyas and for the purposes set forth.

5. A sorting device for papers or the like comprising a supportingframe, a pluralit; of open-top receptacles extending transversely belowthe frame and arranged in 'a ronextending longitudinally thereof, and apaper deflecting and guiding member fixed to the frame above eachreceptacle, said member comprising an inclined guide plate extendingover one receptacle and leading into the adjacent receptacle, adeflecting ele Inent positioned above the lower end of said plate, antfor causing the papers to assume a substantially horizontal positionbefore falling inan upturned lip on the lower end of said gulde plate.Tn testimon whereot he affixes his Sig-- nature.

W. COX, JR.

l means carried by said guide plate I

